“So you lock yourself in a cage when you feel it coming on so you don’t have to worry about what you might do?” Bowen nodded his head toward the steel door of my bedroom.
I gave a nod, feeling my throat tighten with vulnerability. He was damn perceptive, and I wasn’t used to opening up like this. “It’s my bedroom, but yeah.”
“Bedroom? As in… that’s where you sleep?” Bowen’s eyes narrowed as he looked past the door I left open.
Heat crawled up my throat. “Yes. Even the image of the moon can throw me into a shift, so there are no windows. And… well, it’s very, uh, minimal in there because my wolf doesn’t like feeling trapped, so he reacts pretty strongly to being locked inside.”
Bowen’s face morphed into a look of sorrow. One that had me wanting to tug him into my lap and hold him. “Being locked up would causeanyoneto react strongly.”
I lifted my shoulder in another shrug.What was the alternative? I certainly couldn’t risk hurting others, so it was better if the only one I hurt was myself. Forcing a smile, I tried to shake it off. “It’s okay. I have friends who check on me.”
“That’s good. So your friends know, then?” Bowen asked.
“Yes.” An actual smile came to my face. Having the group here had made a world of difference for me. I wasn’t nearly as isolated and alone as I had been before Creature Comforts.
“It’s been changing lately, though,” I admitted. It wasn’t even something I’d told Zee or Maxime, but seeing the sweet man in front of me and the pull I felt toward him, I suddenly needed him to know.
His brows arched up, and he leaned forward. “It has?”
“Yes. Like earlier. I couldn’t stop the shift, but I felt…presentthe entire time. It was different, easier even. Usually, coming out of it completely drains me, but not this time. I was able to change back a lot more easily, too.”
“That’s great, Rudy.” Bowen offered me a sweet smile. “Why do you think that is?”
Staring at him, I took in the short, auburn hair, the black-framed glasses, the nutty-brown eyes behind them, the narrow cheeks, and the light shadow on his chin. Cute. He was ridiculously cute. But even more than his appearance, there was something about him that my soul seemed to reach out for. Something I couldn’t understand. His name sat on the tip of my tongue, and with it a nearly overwhelming sense of rightness. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure I want to say it yet.”
“That’s fair, I suppose. I mean, we did just meet. Okay, I have another question for you, if you don’t mind.”
I nodded. “Sure.”
“You mentioned you were one of the founders of this place. If that’s true, then why do you work as the handyman? I’m not putting it down or anything, but it’s a big job, so I’m curious how that came about.”
A sheepish smile stretched across my lips. “Everyone had something to contribute to the function of the inn but me. They all have their own talents and skills, and I… well, I break a lot of shit. It tends to happen when you turn into a werewolf and can’t control it. And when you’re really good at breaking things, you have to learn how to fix them, too. So, that’s what I do… fix things.”
Bowen grinned, looking so bright and beautiful that it made me want to lick him. Or… lick himagain, only maybe I’d remember it this time. The thought made my cheeks flush, and I rested my hands on them to try to cover it.
“You know what, Rudy? I think you don’t give yourself enough credit. You have skills and talents, even if they aren’t glitzy or glamorous. No place can keep going without someone doing all the hard work to keep it maintained.”
Pride sparked in my chest. My friends had said it before, but somehow hearing it from someone outside our circle hit me differently. “Yeah?”
“Yup, definitely.” Bowen’s smile softened and his expression looked thoughtful. “So why here? What made you decide to start an inn? I feel like that would be risky, given the concerns you have with your wolf.”
“It’s safer than anywhere else.”
“How so?”
“It’s what we built the place for. To be a refuge for folks like me.”
Bowen gasped and sank to the floor, sitting in front of the couch with the coffee table between us. He lowered his voice and whispered, “There are otherwerewolves?”
I barked out a laugh at the adorably surprised expression. “No, at least, not currently.”
“So what do you mean…folks like you?”
I squinted my eyes for a moment. What did he mean by ‘What do you mean?’ Then I remembered Maxime saying he couldn’t get a read on Bowen. Was Bowen human? Did he not know what this place was? He knew about me, so what would be the harm in telling him? I took a deep breath and met his gaze. Telling him should be okay. It wouldhaveto be. Hopefully, the others would forgive me. I wasn’t usually one to share secrets that weren’t mine, but I didn’t want to lie to him.
“Creature Comforts isn’t just an inn. It’s a place that was made for supernatural beings. For people who maybe aren’t people and who want to be able to be themselves away from the eyes of a watchful society. There are some humans, Maxime has a trick to handle them, but most that come here… aren’t.”
I held my breath as I watched him take the information in. It was one thing for him to accept me, but how was he going to react knowing it wasn’t just me? It wasn’t fear I saw in his face or smelled from him, but I could see him processing, could see the wheels turning.
